Abadi: Kurdistan oil exports over USD1 billion in 3 months

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Northern Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan Region has exported oil worth more than one billion dollars in three months, Iraqi PM Haider al-Abadi said on Tuesday.

Speaking during his weekly press conference, Abadi said “the region’s (Kurdistan) exports of oil over the past three months have stood at nearly 2 trillion Iraqi dinars (USD1.68 billion).

“Kurdistan secures more than 80 percent of its employees’ salaries from oil revenues,” said the prime minister.

“The region had promised to provide a statement with its revenues this year,” said Abadi. “There is a problem with employees’ numbers in Kurdistan, but that does not prevent the disbursing of salaries”.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Iraqi Oil Ministry said Iraq exported more than 109 million oil barrels during the month of December, with revenues more than USD 6.496 billion.

Kurdistan has been demanding Baghdad to send delayed employee salaries as a crisis erupted between the two governments since the region voted for independence from Iraq in a September poll.

Baghdad, on the other hand, has demanded Kurdistan to speak out on revenues it made from oil exports, occasionally accusing the region’s government of exporting it illegally without the federal government’s oversight.